Re: Official Oklahoma City Thunder Thread (2012/13)

The Heat managed to hit key 3's to stop every OKC switch in momentum countless times. That was huge IMO. From my vantage point it seemed to suck the air out of an arena on the brink of exploding countless times.

Also, will people start giving Reggie some respect now and quit throwing out these ridiculous trade scenarios like trading for Ramon Sessions and John Lucas because "the Thunder need a backup point?"

I thought that Reggie played well tonight.

I been on Reggie's bandwagon since he took over the back-up role but he did make several costly errors tonight, but then again so did the entire team... I still don't think we need another back up PG. For what? When RW plays 35-40 min a night... We just need another big body who can defend well (like Marion/mbah)

Our best chance for a title is somebody upsetting the heat for us in the playoffs.

No plays at all

And screw these announcers while we r at it

It's not overreacting, it's a fact.

A low-post scorer would be of huge benefit for us in this matchup. The Heat's bigs are susceptible defensively. We just cant take advantage of them

But hey - clearly the Heat are in these guys heads. The stupid defense, the hero-mode. Thunder were defeated before this game tipped off. If we make it to the finals (Clippers with a healthy Billups is gonna be trouble for us), if we don't have low-post scoring and stop the ****ing hero mode, we have zero chance of beating the Heat.

Didn't get to focus on the game but from what I saw and from the box score: getting out rebounded by 11 by Miami and only registering 16 assists (10 of which belonged to Russ) is just befuddling.

PASS THE ****ING BALL. REBOUND THE ****ING BALL.

And for the love of all things holy fix this bullshit 3 point discrepancy against this team.

When was the last game we didn't fall behind by double digits at some point in the first half? When was the last game they didn't murder us from 3? When was the last game we logged more than our average # of assists against these cats?

And we can **** all we want about the problems with our offense, but we lost this game on defense. ****in 63 points in 1 half? 63 points?!

Didn't get to focus on the game but from what I saw and from the box score: getting out rebounded by 11 by Miami and only registering 16 assists (10 of which belonged to Russ) is just befuddling.

PASS THE ****ING BALL. REBOUND THE ****ING BALL.

And for the love of all things holy fix this bullshit 3 point discrepancy against this team.

When was the last game we didn't fall behind by double digits at some point in the first half? When was the last game they didn't murder us from 3? When was the last game we logged more than our average # of assists against these cats?

And we can **** all we want about the problems with our offense, but we lost this game on defense. ****in 63 points in 1 half? 63 points?!

To who? Serge/Thabo/Perk made it very clear early on in the game that they were not up to the task and wanted to defer to the heroes KD and Russ

I honestly don't understand Serge. When OKC plays the Spurs, he plays with an intensity and a "Im gonna kick your ass" attitude, probably because he is playing Duncan and is inspired to beat one of the greats. Well do that against Miami man, OKC needs you to be able to demand defensive attention

Re: Official Oklahoma City Thunder Thread (2012/13)

Didn't get to focus on the game but from what I saw and from the box score: getting out rebounded by 11 by Miami and only registering 16 assists (10 of which belonged to Russ) is just befuddling.

PASS THE ****ING BALL. REBOUND THE ****ING BALL.

And for the love of all things holy fix this bullshit 3 point discrepancy against this team.

When was the last game we didn't fall behind by double digits at some point in the first half? When was the last game they didn't murder us from 3? When was the last game we logged more than our average # of assists against these cats?

And we can **** all we want about the problems with our offense, but we lost this game on defense. ****in 63 points in 1 half? 63 points?!

Dude. They can't pass the ball, that's the problem. They have shitty turnovers due to shitty passes. It is hard to watch such a good team have these issues.

To who? Serge/Thabo/Perk made it very clear early on in the game that they were not up to the task and wanted to defer to the heroes KD and Russ

I honestly don't understand Serge. When OKC plays the Spurs, he plays with an intensity and a "Im gonna kick your ass" attitude, probably because he is playing Duncan and is inspired to beat one of the greats. Well do that against Miami man, OKC needs you to be able to demand defensive attention

KD's got the same fundamental issues against Miami, they're in his head, big-time, and thus he plays out of control.

I've always been a Brooks defender but heres the deal: this team HAS shown that it can space and move the ball. It's always just for a couple games at a time but they can do it. To see the team go immediately to hero/panic mode *after* a timeout has got me wondering what the ****'s going on over there on the bench.

And these people on the radio, omg. "this is why we shouldn't have traded Harden, fer gosh sakes!! " WTF How can you be so retarded?

I think the time is now to let go of Perk. I've been a huge supporter of his but really, OKC needs post scoring.

I don't think this is a fair statement. Perk was brought in to incorporate and do certain things for this team and those missions have been accomplished. The fact that he does not match up well with Miami's bigs is not the reason we keep losing to them. It's all about adjustments, and OKC has not made any of them. Its all on the coaching staff to make the right substitutions.

To whom should we pass the ball? Let's start with Kevin Martin, who took...5 shots last night.

From there, it's not even necessarily KD and RW that need to pass...it's everyone else. I don't know exactly what happened, but when only 3 of your players log an assist in a game, something is not right with the offense.

I'm not going to put this 6 game losing streak on the players though. This is clearly an issue of a coach not figuring out how to take advantage of another teams weaknesses. Ibaka took 6 shots last night. Against Miami, he should have 6 shots within 3 feet, let alone anything from mid to long range. Are you seriously telling me that we can't draw up plays to get the ball to the post and get some points.

And for the love of God, let Collison play against Miami. 15 minutes? When Reggie Jackson is playing 7 more minutes than Nick Collison against the best team in the NBA, you know your coach is having a brain fart.

We will not beat Miami playing small. Miami's biggest weakness is their front court. We will not be effective offensively against Miami if KD and Westbrook are the bulk of our offense. They probably need to combine for 38 shots or less, and Collison/Perk/Ibaka, probably need to combine for at least 16 shots.

Bottom line...I honestly don't think changing personnel is the answer here. Ibaka is obviously a threat offensively, and Perkins has demonstrated he is capable (especially against lesser competition) and Collison has been one of the Thunder's most consistent and best players for years now...We ought to at least utilize them before we call for a complete overhaul of the front court.

Teo you're absolutely right about Serge, he should be able to have a monster game against the Heat. And not via elbow jumpers

Serge should be our 'Chris Bosh'... A big who can spread the floor with his mid-range game...And he has been that for us all year, he was just a no-show last night... Everybody wants to talk about how we can't stop LBJ, when in reality Bosh was the difference maker last night. Much like KD, LBJ is going to get his no matter what. I also think we did a good job of making LBJ beat us with his jumper for most of the night as opposed to letting him score in the paint... Seriously need Ibaka to step up if we want to stand a chance

Serge should be our 'Chris Bosh'... A big who can spread the floor with his mid-range game...And he has been that for us all year, he was just a no-show last night... Everybody wants to talk about how we can't stop LBJ, when in reality Bosh was the difference maker last night. Much like KD, LBJ is going to get his no matter what. I also think we did a good job of making LBJ beat us with his jumper for most of the night as opposed to letting him score in the paint... Seriously need Ibaka to step up if we want to stand a chance

Serge has always been a no show against the Heat. Its amazing the contrasting philosophy between the two teams. The Heat fight for every rebound, while Serge and Perk take possessions off and try and get a head start on defense or offense.

Oklahoma City is another team with plenty of assets. After losing to the Lakers and both games of the season series to Miami, the Thunder are strongly considering a move, sources said. Thunder GM Sam Presti is likely dangling younger players and draft picks to land an offensively-gifted player to join Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.

I'm not sure about our needs in specific positions... we have a superstar in Durant, plus Westbrook when he is going, and Ibaka can be great when his shot is falling. Sefolosha is a great defender and can hit threes when he's open, and Perk is, well, Perk. He's a physical presence that causes West teams problems against us. He doesn't match up as well against Miami, but who does?
I think our main problem is just valuing possessions. Lots of turnovers against a good team like Miami are compounded, because they are more mature and don't make the same mistakes nearly as much. Not to mention, if Westbrook or Durant force a bad shot, or drive the lane 1 on 3, and give Miami an easy rebound and fast break opportunity, that is basically a turnover. You could probably add 5 or 6 of those to OKC's stat line.
I think it is a maturity thing... and as soon as it clicks, we'll see OKC do a better job of protecting each possession and getting the most out of every opportunity down the court. Miami struggled the first year with Lebron, and lost in the finals to Dallas, who struggled to close games a few years before that, and lost to Miami... this is just the next hurdle for this really young, really good OKC team to get over. And Lebron is ****ing ridiculous right now. Hitting his prime, and could get even better in the next couple years. Scary.

It's a mix of bullshit and truth. He's just repeating what all insiders have said for about a week. Presti is feeling around, and Maynor is young, and this is one of the worst draft classes in many years. Plus, the Raptors are playing well since getting Rudy Gay. So, that Toronto pick isn't exactly a keeper. Of course Presti is looking to make a move. He's basically take the approach of a TV psychic. Covering all basis so he doesn't look wrong. He said "strongly considering" so if OKC doesn't, he's not wrong. Yet, if they do make a move, it's like he predicted it.

I know everyone is hitting the panic button b/c of not being able to beat the Heat, but the Thunder shouldn't mortgage their entire franchise for just this year. That type of thinking is going to hurt OKC in the long run, and they can't afford it financially. Al Jefferson sounds great, but he cost WAY too much. I've also heard Kevin Garnett and Paul Millsap. I believe the Thunder should be patient and not make any sudden moves. They're still a young team. Durant and Westbrook are only 24 years old. They haven't even reached their primes yet. By the time Westbrook and Durant are Lebron's age(28), the Heat will be finished. Wade only has a couple years left of elite level basketball, James will be on the decline by the time he's 35-36. If the Thunder keep this team together without doing anything stupid financially, and continue to develop. They'll win multiple championships(3 or 4x).

Thank goodness Sam Presti runs the Thunder and not callers to the Sports Animal. If Sam would just listen to Al's show then he would know that the all the Thunder need to win the title is J.J. Bares. And if the Thunder could get Marcin Gortat then the NBA can just skip the playoffs and just go ahead and give the Larry O'Brien trophy to the Thunder because no one would beat the Thunder with Gortat.

Still saying that? Wow. Anyone notice that PERKINS shut him down? Why would you down grade? I'll be the first one to admit, I was slightly interested by that trade scenario. Perkins shut any notion of that down.